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Wednesday, January 28, 2015

A few years back, the Hex Games crew started an on-going pulp sword & sorcery campaign. We rotate GMs and play whenever all of us have a chance to get together, so y'know, once a year if we're lucky. The adventures have been a lot of fun, and our characters all follow a couple basic premises about S&S heroes:
1) Pulp sword & sorcery heroes are extraordinarily competent.
2) Pulp sword & sorcery heroes are kind of terrible people.

How YOU doin'?

Our episodic adventures have been mostly deconstructive pastiches of old S&S tropes. Our characters are all deeply broken men who willingly put themselves in danger for nebulous rewards. The once-pleasant little fishing village where we chose to set up shop has become a den of vice, corruption, and degradation thanks to our presence. It's been a lot of fun.

My character is Thorne of Vancia, a knock-off of the Grey Mouser. Thorn ap Dion was the middle child of a rich merchant family from the decadent city of Vancia (a city I've recycled and fleshed-out for Pangloss). He had to leave his home after he "accidentally" murdered his fencing instructor. He has since wandered the world as a mariner, a gladiator, a mercenary, and a rogue. While serving as henchman for the sorcerer Varnum the Mad, he picked up a few minor magical tricks. When he left the sorcerer's service, he also stole a trunk full of unknown charms and talismans. Thorne hates the savage wilderness and longs for the decadent comforts of civilization. He is a quick-witted rogue of low character with a preference for opium, fortified wine, and unsavory women.

In adventures ran by Steve Johnson, Ian Engle, and Leighton Connor he helped loot the lost temple of Pikus the Fish God, liberated a tribe of bird-people, and stole the sword Nurandrel from an angel of Death. He has since pried the jewels from the sword's hilt and sold them for drugs. He has also had a year of his life magically drained away due to poor life choices.

Thorne was originally made for QAGS. I thought it would be neat to see what he looks like under two of my other favorite games, Fate Accelerated and Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition). I have two different listing for D&D--one with Thorne as a lowly 1st level beginner and one with him as a more-competent 5th level veteran.

I think it's interesting to contrast and compare the same character across three very different systems to see how the mechanics of each system switches focus on different aspects of the character. It's also neat to see how easily QAGS maps to FAE and vice-versa. Job and Weakness easily become High Concept and Trouble, while Gimmick and even Tagline provide additional aspects. Skills help inform Stunts, as well. For D&D it's nice to see that the Arcane Initiate feat works well enough for "the guy that messed around with magic a bit in the past" without having to go full-blown Arcane Trickster or multiclass Wizard.

QAGS

Thorne of Vancia

Body: 12

Brain: 11

Nerve: 14

HP: 12

YY: 3

Job: Vagabond Ne’er-do-well (15)

Gimmick: Magical Dabbler (11)

Weakness: Hedonist (11)

Skills

Trading +1

Fast Talk +2

Scimitar +2

Swordplay +3

WWPHITM?: Robert Downey Jr.

Tagline: “Style beats skill nine times out of ten.”

Dumb Fact: Has never been a pirate

Gear

Scimitar (+3 Damage Modifier; medium, sharp)

Short Sword (+2 Damage Modifier; small, sharp)

Pockets full of minor charms and doo-dads

FATE Accelerated

Thorne of Vancia

High Concept: Vagabond Ne’er-do-well

Trouble: The pleasures of the flesh

Other Aspects: Magical dabbler, “Style beats skill nine times out of ten,” Wayward middle son of House Thorne

Approaches

Flashy +3

Quick +2

Sneaky +2

Careful +1

Clever +1

Forceful +0

Stunts

Because I use a blade in each hand, I get +2 when I Flashily Attack multiple combatants in melee.

Because I dabble in minor magics, I get +2 to Cleverly Create Advantage when using petty sorcery.

Because you never know what I’ve stashed in my pockets, once per session I can automatically add an aspect to a scene thanks to some handy item I happen to have on my person.

Monday, January 26, 2015

The Danks were once a marshland outpost for a community of Halflings in the Bogbrie Wetlands. Due to some basic construction errors, the structure soon sank into the marsh (becoming known as the Lower Danks) and were quickly occupied by Bollywugs.

Monday, January 19, 2015

The Marchlands are a loose coalition of free cities and small fiefdoms bound by the Freeman's Compact. The Bastion is a militant faction dedicated to keeping The Marchalnds free and protecting it from incursions by Uth-Goliad to the north and Madyan to the south.

The Marchlands is the starting province for my upcoming D&D 5th Edition game. For reference, Phandalin lies east of Old Warrior's Road, between Red Widow Woods and the Knucklebone Mountains.

Here are some bullet-points about the important towns and cities in the Marchlands.

HORIZON

Population:
30,000 (city)

Sovereign
Hieronymus Rook (human fighter, NG)

Cast
down the former overlord Krace Krokus 20 years ago.

Largest
city in the Marchlands.

Temples to most
(non-evil) gods.

Pangloss' largest temple
to Hyperia, Heaven's Vigil.
A mighty citadel of vaulted stone topped with bronze spires. Still
under construction.

Crypt-shrine
to Lord Rook's dead wife (Mellura, half-elf sorceress) made of
blue crystal in city square. Honor guards provide constant vigil.
Died six years ago.

Main
castle,rechristened Rookskeep, an ancient edifice of black
stone with heavy iron gates.

The
Pale House, large circular temple to Death Itself with thirteen
doors, made of marble and carved like bone.

BLACKHELM

Population:
20,000 (city)

Duke
Xythos Blackhelm (human fighter, LN)

Duchess
Galthia

Blackhelm
family has ruled the land for seven generations.

The
Black Helm is a magical helmet, sapient and powerful. Family
artifact.

Home
of the only navy in the Marchlands

Famed
for its pottery and brick-works. Rich deposits of dark blue clay.

Massive
temple to Thantogrim. The Hall of Gates. Five-sided building
with five sets of gates. Worshipers are allowed deeper and deeper
into temple as they are indoctrinated deeper and deeper into the Gray
Mysteries. None have returned after passing through the fifth
gate.

Minority
tieflings and orcbrood live in slums called Little Stygia.

Main
base of operations for The Bastion. Fort Bulwark on the hills
outside of town.

ABERNATH

Population:
18,000 (city)

City
on island in Titan lake.

Duchess
Ardith Ymma (human fighter, N)

Orchards
and rich farm lands. Abernath Apples are a rich golden-green
and keep for years. Popularly used in iron rations. Makes potent wine
and brandy.

City
walls of large, irregular red and purple bricks.

Tall
buildings and towers with narrow, cobbled streets.

Thousands
of statues and hundreds of fountains, even in the poor parts of town.

Famous
for its fancy clothing (especially velvet, suede, and lace) and
elaborate hats.

"Thanks for visiting!"

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Who I Am

I am a long-time gamer who enjoys both new-style story games and old-style OSR stuff. I love drawing maps and goofy monsters. I help write, layout, and illustrate games for Hex Games, and I keep taking stabs at creating webcomics with mixed results. I talk about RPGs (and other things) at my Bernie the Flumph blog.